Willy Kipkemoi Rotich, 20 years old, the winner of Singapore’s Sundown Marathon has been disqualified. The reason: everyone had thought a man named Richard Habeya had crossed the line first. It turns out, Rotich had been wearing Habeya’s bib.

Mr. Habeya is a 24-year-old Nigerian man and was aware of the situation.

The fraud was discovered when organizers called the winners to double check their finishing times.

“We have tried to contact Willy on numerous occasions but said he could not be reached,” said race official, Benjamin Wee “He seems to be uncontactable and is not replying to the numerous messages we have left for him.”

Rotich had been awarded $500 for his finishing time. Wee said that identities were verified when runners pick up their race packets. “But on the day of the race, we relied on everyone’s…integrity. That is a value every sports event must strive to promote,” he said.

Apparently, Rotich has run under other names before. He competed in the Baguio 21km race in the Philippines using the tag of another Kenyan, Daniel Koringo. He was disqualified after that race when he tried to cash in on his winnings using Koringo’s passport.

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